MSS Creating Hydrogen Valve Standard

Major changes to valve standards are usually predicated by a distinct specific need or major industry shift. A major standards growth spurt occurred in the 1990s with the accelerated need to banish asbestos coupled with the serious need to curtail fugitive emissions. This event would see numerous standards created and other standards updated due to the changes that were needed in materials and testing practices.

Today, with an increasing shift to alternative energy, there is again a need for new valve and piping standards, particularly for hydrogen applications. The effective use of hydrogen as a fuel requires economical transportation and storage of the energy-rich gas, which is made possible by either extremely high pressures and/or very low (cryogenic) temperatures.

To make hydrogen a useful fuel, it is necessary to make it denser for transport. One way to accomplish that goal is to compress the gas by increasing its pressure for movement through a high-pressure (1000-2000 psi) pipeline. When high-volume transport is needed and pipelines are unavailable, hydrogen is most commonly transported and delivered as an extremely cold, cryogenic (-253^oC) liquid in tank trucks and rail cars.

The compounding issue is the extremely small molecule size of hydrogen and its difficult containability. To address this need on the valve side, the Manufacturers Standardization Society (MSS) is currently working on a new standard to address this key part of hydrogen piping systems.

The hydrogen standard falls under the leadership of a new MSS Committee: Committee 410, “Severe and Special Service Valves.” The scope of this group includes the creation of various application-related valve standards. The first document nearing completion covers an application that has needed standardization – valves in hydrofluoric acid (HF) service. HF acid is a very useful chemical in the refining industry, but it is very hazardous and highly corrosive, and standardization of valves in that service is much desired by both end users and manufacturers. This document is in the ballot stage and may be finished for publication as early as spring.

One of the innovations that has made this new committee successful is a change in MSS participation policy. Previously, only manufacturers and a few other related sub-groups could be members of MSS and have full participation rights. But MSS has created a new class of participants, subject matter experts (SME). This now allows a committee to broaden its work group scope to previously ineligible groups such as end-users, engineering and construction (E&C) members, governmental agencies, educators and consultants. In the case of the HF and hydrogen valve standards work, this has shown to be invaluable.

As MSS celebrates 100 years of service to industry in 2024, the organization continues to be at the forefront of standards creation, be it revision of legacy standards or creating standards for the next wave of green energy applications.